WEAR YOUR LOVE LIKE HEAVEN – Interview with Winston

W: We’re here with Glen Laughlin in our continuing series of interviews about the songs on The Cherry Bluestorms’ Bad Penny Opera. Today we’ll be talking about the one non-original song on the album, Donovan’s Wear Your Love Like Heaven. How did this gentle Donovan song become the R&B-inflected track included in this song cycle?

GL: Truthfully, the idea for this version of Donovan’s song occurred independently. We had been doing the song in our live show and it seemed to fit. The song itself is from the period BPO deals with. Our arrangement, though different, was still in keeping with the period. We also liked the way the lyrics touched on both the peace and love 1960s vibe as well as feeling current by inadvertently touching on the post- 911 paranoia about Islam.

W: The horn arrangements on the previous track, A Better Place and this song are very reminiscent of the pre- Summer of Love 1960s. Were there any particular songs from that period that influenced the arrangements?

GL: I wish I could say that I had spent some time researching how horns were arranged and recorded in that period. If I achieved anything like it, I guess it’s just because I grew up with those tracks and it ended up in my DNA. Aside from the Stax/Volt, Tamla/Motown and Southern California influences such as The Turtles, I think Good Day Sunshine was probably the thing that influenced me the most. It wasn’t really that consciously, but I think that some of The Stones’ tracks and The Lovin’ Spoonful’s She’s A Mystery probably found their way in there too.

W: Were you a big fan of Donovan’s in the 1960s?

GL: He was one of my heroes and Deborah’s too. I remember calling KHJ’s request line over and over to request Jennifer Juniper. The line was busy forever. I finally got through and I was thoroughly disappointed that I ended up going to bed before they ever played it. Lesson learned!

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